Hard Drive
a theatrical crash-test in a crashed car
As a fetish object and symbol of individual freedom, the car is the medium of mobility par excellence. If one believes in the promise of salvation for the technical optimization of our society, then the mobility of the future will be sustainable, digital and secure thanks to autonomous driving: “Vorsprung durch Technik” (Audi). But if the invention of the car is also the invention of a car accident, will it have consequences if soon artificial intelligence (AI) intervenes in our lives? And what does it mean for civil society that the technology of autonomous cars is based on military research?
A crashed car stands on a public square in the heart of Munich. Deformed sheet metal, a spider web of cracks on the windshield: speed, energy, bounce are frozen into sculpture.
Guided by an artificial voice, four spectators are invited to sit in this deformed „automated talking car“. As temporary passenger, they become part of a theatrical crash test. The accident car is not only a temporary venue in public space, but acts as an actor and narrator.
Guided by a fully autonomous game algorithm, it is up to the inmates themselves to decide which narrative they want to follow. Depending on the viewer’s behavior, different tracks are activated and played in the interactive audio installation. The narrative revolves around fundamental questions: Can freedom be programmed? How much autonomy do we want? And last but not least: who is actually programming (for) whom?
concept: O-Team
research, text & artistic direction: Antonia Beermann, Folkert Dücker
production design, installation: Nina Malotta, Samuel Hof
narrator: Folkert Dücker
sound design & technical installation: Pedro Pinto
music: Benno Heisel
graphics: Markus Niessner
produktion managment: schæfer&sœhne
PR: Kathrin Schäfer
PREMIERE:
September 2019, Mariahilfplatz, HochX, München
Sept 2019, Hoch X Munich
Feb 2020, Imaginale – International Festival of Animated Theater Forms, Stuttgart
Oct 2020, Rodeo Festival Munich
Aug 2021, 22nd international. Figuren.theater.festival Erlangen
May 2022 Theater Aalen
Hard Drive is a project from O-Team, in coproduction Hoch X Munich and Theater Aalen.
Funded by the Fonds Doppelpass from the German federal cultural foundation and Landesverband freier Tanz- und Theaterschaffender Baden-Württemberg e.V. with the budget of the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts in Baden-Württemberg
